Update

For some reason, I can't shake having the same feeling I did in the days after September 11th -- the feeling that nothing will ever be the same. The clear thinking side of me says that's crazy. I'm high. I'm dry. I'm safe. I've got a roof over my head. But that can't be said for some of my family or my friends.

As of last night, there has been no word from my uncle, aunt & cousin living in Covington on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Everything I've read, though, says that the area fared much better than New Orleans with only lots of wind damage and trees down but no flooding... So, I feel okay about them.

I just talked to a friend of mine who lives in New Orleans proper. She fled to Texas for the storm, but is now coming to the conclusion that she may not have anything to return to in New Orleans. She figures that her house is either flooded or looted... And her entire territory as a pharmaceutical sales rep doesn't exist right now. She told me, "I just want my life back."